thanks. >>> president obama is gearing up for another fight with congressional lawmakers. this one over the impending sweeping spending cuts that could have a major effect on you. kristen welker's at the white house. good morning. >> reporter: erica, good morning to you. senior administration officials say president obama will spend the weekend working on his state of the union address. it's a speech that will focus largely on the economy and the middle class. this as washington gets closer to yet another potential economic crisis. amy baca ohlert is a high school counselor from colorado. she's traveled to washington with other educators with a message to congress. >> the time when we are looking at ways to keep our schools safer, these across-the-board cuts would impact those positions and those people who keep our schools safe. >> reporter: she's talking about the so-called sequester. $85 billion in spending cuts set to kick in march 1. meant to be so egregious that lawmakers would have to come to agreement on deficit reduction. but that hasn't happened. and time is runn